Lack of affordable housing is a serious problem around the world, and it’s been Adia’s focus for almost a decade now. When our “$12,000 Green Dream Home” (MCDhouse) made international news in 2009, floods of emails came in from across the globe. It seemed to give people hope. It made young people who can barely afford to rent leap at the thought of owning their own home. It made families with children dream of healthy, all natural housing. It delighted the elderly looking for small elegant homes to down-size into in retirement. It perked political interest on multiple continents. An ultra-affordable, eco-friendly house seemed to strike a chord in everyone.

In many countries, lack of materials and skilled labor make it impossible to build safe and comfortable modern housing. So we developed a system for pre-building and packaging traditional wooden homes in such a way that an entire home (up to 800 S.F.) can fit into a single shipping container and be shipped anywhere in the world affordably.

We made improvements for environmental-friendliness, insulation, and spatial quality—and revolutionized the way the homes are built. But as far as construction quality and materials, these homes are identical to contemporary American homes and meet or exceed all International Building Code (IBC) requirements.

The homes were designed so that all the pre-assembled parts and finish materials for two complete houses—including all furnishings—could fit into one standard 40’ shipping container. This was no easy task, but made the cost of international transport feasible.

We also developed several processes to simplify the on-site erection process so that minimal skilled labor was required. In fact, the houses were erected with only one 8.5 x 14 page of architectural drawings for reference.

The prototypes (currently inItaly) were designed for homeless mothers and their babies. However, wooden homes of any size, style, and exterior finishing are possible via our methods.

Adia is a global network of diversely talented creative individuals with a passion for design and innovation. The company was founded with two goals: 1) to make exceptional design and innovation accessible to everyone, and 2) to unleash the freshest talent and ideas from around the world to meet today’s challenges and make the earth a better place.

We believe that exceptional design enhances lives and pays for itself in the value it creates. We believe that anything is possible with enough knowledge, creativity, and passion—and that the greatest challenges yield the most spectacular results.

We believe that exceptional design enhances lives and pays for itself in the value it creates. We believe that anything is possible with enough knowledge, creativity, and passion—and that the greatest challenges yield the most spectacular results.